


Chauncey

by Dazeventura6



Series: AUs [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Dogs, Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-03 17:36:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12752991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dazeventura6/pseuds/Dazeventura6
Summary: Aaron gets to meet Jack's new friend and his dad.





	Chauncey

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NimueOfTheNorth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NimueOfTheNorth/gifts).



> Happy Birthday, Nimue!  
> Here's a puppy to tide you over till you get one for yourself.lol  
> As always thanks to my lovely beta GhostInTheBAU.

Aaron had been hearing a lot about Chauncey from Jack over the past few months. It was all about how smart and strong Chauncey was, and how he could do things nobody else had done. Aaron tried to be a good father and pay attention to everything his four-year-old was trying to tell him, but Jack had recently acquired a slight lisp, and between that and the continuous chatter he caught about every other word; but honestly, from what he _had_ heard, this Chauncey person didn’t seem to be too smart or great.  He was older than Jack by a few years, but Jack seemed completely sold on this mystery kid’s awesomeness, and Aaron was loathe to interfere with anything that brought his son so much happiness.

            When he’d asked Jessica if she thought Chauncey was good for Jack she’d just laughed and said that Jack couldn’t be safer with anyone, so he’d done his best to let it go and try to just listen to his son’s enthusiastic chatter, happy his son had found a new friend. Aaron had been quite worried about Jack in the aftermath of Haley’s death--the boy had been withdrawn, merely a silent shadow until recently--and even all the therapists Hotch had been taking him to hadn’t been able to break through the wall of silence. But recently, or more specifically, since Chauncey and his dad had come into Jack’s life, the boy had slowly been coming out of his shell; and he was once again almost the same happy kid he’d been before Foyet had ripped it all away from them.

          ~*~

Aaron had just come back from a rough case and he wanted nothing more than to kiss his son goodnight before going to bed himself with a nightcap; but as he went upstairs to look in on Jack, he noticed some bruises and scrapes on the boy. Making a note to ask about it in the morning, he made his way tiredly to change into his pajamas.

~*~

“So Jack, where did you get all those bruises?” Aaron asked over breakfast the next morning, trying not to laugh as a sleepy Jack dozed in his oatmeal, “Did you fall on the playground?”

“Oh yeah…Chauncey got a little excited yesterday and pushed me. But it’s fine,” Jack giggled at the memory, “He was so sorry that he kept licking me.”

Aaron was taken aback by the information...his son’s easy acceptance of someone _licking_ him. He wondered if there was something wrong with Chauncey, something that could put Jack in danger or get him hurt, and he was determined to find out for himself. It was the weekend, and he would be taking Jack to the park that day instead of Jessica. He’d been meaning to meet this Chauncey and his dad anyway, but back-to-back cases had kept him and the team busy, so he hadn’t been able to spend much time with Jack--let alone meet his new friend.

This was the perfect opportunity.

Father and son finished their leisurely breakfast, then got dressed to spend the day outside at the park. Maybe after they’d even have time to see the new animated movie Jack had been dying to go to.

 Once they arrived, Jack made a mad dash to the slides, where he got in line and waited patiently for his turn. Aaron watched as he happily slid down the biggest one, then ran back to the back of the line to wait once more. After two more trips down the slide, Aaron heard his phone chime with a text from one of the team. Praying that it wasn’t another case that would take him away again, he quickly looked down at the screen. He was relieved to see that it was just an invitation to dinner the next day from Rossi for the whole team and their families. As he texted back an affirmative he heard Jack scream, and his head whipped up so quickly he almost gave himself whiplash.

There was a huge, black blur barrelling straight towards Jack.

Before he could react in any way, the blur had mowed down the boy and seemed to be mauling him. His heart was racing out of his chest as he rushed to his son’s side, but once he got close enough he could make out that Jack wasn’t crying...he was giggling. His body relaxed, even more, when he saw that the huge mass of black fur wasn’t hurting his son at all. The exact opposite, really. The animal was licking the boy enthusiastically, a tail wagging happily despite Jack’s half-hearted attempts to fend him off.

“Chauncey! Chauncey!” a frantic voice called, “Here boy! Heel Chauncey! Heel! Oh for god’s sake, Chauncey, heel!”

Aaron watched as the dog -- yeah, it had to be a dog -- turned and lolloped away from his son, and Jack quickly scrambled up to give chase. The pair, dog, and boy, made their way towards a skinny man who was hurrying in their direction with an exasperated look on his face; and that’s when Aaron’s heart picked up again. The guy was younger than him and beautiful--the kind of absolutely stunningly beautiful that could steal someone’s breath away. His body was lithe and his hair was wild and wispy, chestnut curls flying in the wind. Aaron found himself so struck by the man’s looks that he didn’t even really grasp the fact that _the dog_ was Chauncey--his son’s new friend--for a few minutes.

He somehow managed to gather his wits by the time Jack was making his way back to him to introduce his friends. So much of what he had heard about Chauncey now made perfect sense to Aaron, including the ease with which he had wormed his way into the boy’s heart; and he smiled affectionately at his son and the exuberant dog dancing in delight beside him.

“Dad, this is Chauncey,” Jack said, giving the shaggy dark head a friendly rub, “Say hello to my dad, Chauncey.”

The dog obediently sat down and offered a paw, looking up at Aaron with sparkling eyes, tongue hanging out in a doggy grin while his tail thrashed madly behind him.

Aaron couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face at the sight; the dog was big, yes, but clearly very friendly, and absolutely adorable. The unit chief bent down and took the offered paw gently in his hand and shook it once before releasing it. As soon as he let go of the paw, the dog darted forward and gave him one long lick from shoulder to forehead, covering one side of his face with slobber. There was stunned silence for a minute as Aaron stared at the grinning dog in shock, and then Jack busted out giggling. He laughed so hard he literally fell over, prompting the black menace--as Aaron had privately dubbed the dog--to bounce over to him and prod him with a curious nose, which only made the boy laugh even harder.

“I’m sorry about Chauncey. I tried to teach him some manners, but, well...as you can see, it didn’t quite take,” a soft voice said as Aaron looked up to see an old-fashioned gentleman’s handkerchief being offered to him. The young man, Chauncey’s owner, didn’t look all that sorry. In fact, he looked like he was struggling not to laugh himself.

“It’s ok,” Aaron shrugged, returning the man’s smile as he dug in his own pockets for a tissue, “I shouldn’t use your nice handkerchief.”

“Oh no, please...I insist. It’s the least I can do considering my dog’s the one that inflicted the damage.” The beautiful man pressed the fabric into Aaron’s hands and blushed slightly when their fingers touched, “I’m--I’m Spencer, Spencer Reid,” he stuttered, flustered by the small touch, “you’re Jack’s dad.”

“Yeah. Aaron Hotchner,” Hotch replied, unable to take his eyes off the endearing blush. It gave him a little hope that he might not be the only one affected by their meeting, “And you’re Chauncey’s dad.”

Spencer chuckled, “That I am, Agent Hotchner, that I am.”

The soft laugh that bubble out of the other man’s throat caused shivers to run down Aaron’s spine--it just wasn’t fair the way this was affecting him. He feared those sparkling hazel eyes would be the death of him. “So….I take it Jack’s told you all about me?” he asked, “But unfortunately I can’t say the same. He’s talked about Chauncey a lot….although I didn’t know that Chauncey was a dog till just now.” At that, he gave Spencer one of his dimple popping smiles--the one that he’d been told was one of his best features--hoping to get a reaction out of the other man; and he was highly gratified by the sudden intake of breath and dwindling hazel as the young man’s pupils dilated.

“Ah, yes. Well, I’m just Chauncey’s dad. I don’t rate much of a mention,” Spencer smiled, shaking his head as though to clear it and making Aaron’s smile widen at the thought that he had affected this beautiful man so much.

“Since you seem to know so much about me, it’s only fair you tell me something about yourself, Mr. Reid.”

“Actually, it was Jessica who told me about you,” the man corrected, “Jack is always more interested in playing with Chauncey than talking with me. And please, call me Spencer.”

“Okay, Spencer. So, what do you do?” Aaron asked, his curiosity growing the more he spoke to the man.

“Actually, it’s ah…Professor Spencer Reid. I teach at Georgetown,” Spencer answered, flushing once more as he ducked his head.  

“Professor huh…wow!” Aaron’s eyes widened in surprise, “What is it you teach there?”

“I, ah, teach a few subjects actually; but mostly Linguistics, Anthropology, Math, Sociology, and Chemistry,” Spencer answered, reddening further and averting his eyes.

Aaron stared open-mouthed at the other man. _It’s just not fair._ That was the only thought that was running through his mind at the time. The man was already so beautiful and adorably shy, did he have to be absolutely brilliant as well? Aaron knew that any tiny, minuscule chance he’d had of resisting the younger man had just gone out the window; he’d always been attracted to intelligence, and it seemed like the professor had it in spades.  

Hotch was admiring the blushing face when a thought suddenly struck him.

“Wait a minute. You’re not the Dr. Spencer Reid who Gideon was trying to recruit to the team a few years ago are you?”

“Uh, yes actually. I suppose I am,” the genius answered, reddening further--if that was even possible, “He was quite adamant for me to join the BAU. Seemed to think that my expertise would help your team, but I wasn’t really sure about it. That was never my thing, and I had my mother to look after so I couldn’t afford to be haring off all over the country catching criminals.”

“Well, Gideon always spoke very highly of you. He was very disappointed that you didn’t join the unit. I hope your mother is better now,” Aaron said sympathetically. He knew how pushy Gideon could be when he wanted something, and he was impressed that this young man had been able to resist.

“She passed a few months ago,” Spencer added, a sadness creeping into his hazel eyes, “That’s when I got Chauncey. My friends thought having someone else to take care of would help get me out of my funk.” He paused for a moment, the hint of a smile on his lips, “I wasn’t planning on getting such a big dog, but when I got to the shelter he was just looking so lonely and sad. There aren’t a lot of people who want to adopt big dogs, and I couldn’t bear to leave him there.”

“You’re a soft touch, Dr. Reid,” Aaron teased, smirking, “For kids and dogs alike, it seems. What is he? He looks like a small bear.”

“I suppose I am,” he smiled back shyly, “He’s a Newfoundland. They grow big.”

They watched boy and dog playing happily together in comfortable silence for a while before Jack came running back to them, followed happily by Chauncey, who then proceeded to jump up and plant his giant paws on Spencer’s shoulders while licking his face enthusiastically. The affectionate display nearly knocked the younger man down; but Spencer took it in stride, laughing at the dog’s exuberance as he pushed a wet snout out of his face and gave a friendly rub behind an ear.

“Sit Chauncey.”

Surprisingly, the dog sat immediately, wagging his tail as his tongue hung out in a slobbery doggy grin. When Spencer saw the incredulous glance that Aaron shot the dog he chuckled. “It works about every other time. I’m trying to train him, but he’s still a puppy...and very playful.” Spencer smiled, “It’s working….just very slowly and only when he feels like it.”

“Dad, dad, dad!” Jack bounced up and down, giving his best puppy dog eyes to his father as he begged, “Can we take Chauncey home with us for the evening? Please? I promise I’ll take care of him. _Please??”_

The dog turned his attention on Hotch as well, seemingly pleading his case along with the boy--puppy dog eyes and all--and the sight made it really hard for the unit chief to refuse.

Hotch huffed a silent breath, but just as he was about to give in under the dual pressure of boy and dog the man next to him chuckled, rubbing a hand over the dog’s head before tousling the boy’s blonde hair.

“Tell you what,” Spencer said, taking pity on the older man, “I don’t think Chauncey will fit into your apartment, but if your dad agrees you can have a playdate at my house and maybe a sleepover sometime. But only if it’s alright with your dad.” He knew what it was like to be hit by those pleading eyes, they were enough to make anyone crumble.

Hotch sighed in relief, inwardly rejoicing since this would give him a chance to get to know the younger man better. He was finding that he really wanted that, and more. Smiling gratefully at the professor, he nodded, sending both boy and dog into fits of joy as they raced away to continue playing, tumbling and wrestling together in the grass.

“What do you say to having dinner with me sometime and discussing this playdate?” Hotch asked, smiling his best flirtatious smile.

“Why Agent Hotchner, are you asking me out on a date?” Spencer smirked, a slight blush coloring his cheeks.

“I believe I am,” Hotch confessed, smirking right back, “Is that a problem?”

“Not in the slightest. I just wanted to make sure,” Reid grinned, “I’d love to go to dinner with you.”

“I’m glad you clarified my intentions. It’s always best to avoid misunderstandings,” Hotch agreed with a grin. He could feel his cheeks heating up, but he also felt much lighter of spirit than he had in years, almost like he could float if he tried.

They exchanged numbers and chatted easily about everything from Hotch’s work and Spencer’s to literature and movies while the boy and dog played together. Spencer seemed to know at least a little about most subjects but was always keen to hear and learn about new things. Hotch found him an entrancing conversationalist, and even when the younger man would go off on a tangent rambling about something or the other, he just found it endearing and informative.

When it neared lunchtime and Jack declared that he was starving to death, Hotch finally managed to tear himself away from the younger man; and after promising to call and make plans for their date, the Hotchner men left the park, both well pleased with their new friends and the promise of more in the future.

  



End file.
